Excylyn J. Hardin-Smith
Associate – Fish & Richardson

 

Description of field of expertise

Excylyn Hardin-Smith’s practice focuses primarily on patent litigation and she has experience litigating patents in the fields of biotechnology, medical devices, financial services and computer software. Her experience spans various phases of litigation and includes discovery management, motion practice, pre-trial preparation and trial.

In addition to her work for her clients, Excylyn has maintained an active pro bono practice focused on criminal justice, employment law, civil rights, voting rights and women’s rights.

 

What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?

Though it is often preferred to have a specialized technical background to be a patent litigator, my advice to new attorneys interested in patent litigation is to go for it—even if you don’t have a technical background. I have always loved science, but I don’t have a technical degree, and initially I was hesitant about my ability to tackle all of scientific and technical aspects that came with patent litigation—especially being surrounded by colleagues who had advanced technical degrees. But what I learned is that for every case, everyone has to learn the specific technology at issue and I could learn it just like everyone else does.

I offer this advice particularly to new Black attorneys—there are so few of us in patent litigation and I would love to see more Black faces in the field.